Fire-escape



1. WEINBERG.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION man FEB. 24. 1919.

a o o Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEETI INVENTOR lllH LlllI J. WEINBERG.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24. ms. 1,332,011. Patented Feb-24 1920. V 4 SHEETS-SHEET a.

o O". R

g =1 u, *2, I" E V l K w &\\ 0 k 0 O INVENTOI? J. WEINBERG.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24. 1919.

1,332,01 1 Patented Feb. 24,1920.

4 5HEET$SHEET 4- m KEEN 55 sanie' being shown-in" its extended position of the invention.

JOSEPH WEINBERG, or NEW'YOBK, N. Y.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Seaman of Letters Patent. Patented Feb.2 4, 1920.

Application filed February 24, 1919. SeriaINo. 278,949.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, J osnrn lVnINBnno, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification. f

The present invention relates to unprovements in fire-escapes, and more particularly to devices of this type which are portable. The main object of the 'invention'is to provide a fire-escape mounted'upon atruck and in the-form of a cushioned or resilient platform, adapted to catch falling bodies, such as persons of a burning building or off the platforms thereof, in combination with means for raising the said platform above the truck to predetermined heights. p v Another object of the invention is to provide a platform of the character described which, when folded, is substantially of the of the truck, to permit the apparatus totravel through the streets Without interferingw'ith the traffic, etc.

A further- Object'of'the invention is to make the platform supportingmeans of a plurality of telescoping sections, having independent means for raisin'gthe same.

A still further object of theinvention is to provide a device of the character described which is simple in construction, efficient in operation and which can be quickly put in place, when needed.

WVith these and other objects in View, whichwill more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in'the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter described, pointed out in the appended claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and pro portion of the severalpa'rts and details of construction within the scope of the appended. claim without departing from the. of thejadvantages' spirit "or sacrificing anythe invention is illustrated in the accomp yiflg dr wing in h ch:-. Figure L-is a front elevation, partly in section, of" a Qfire escape constructed in accord'anee with the i present invention," the umping out of windows.

"One-of-the many possible embodirnents of Fig, 2 is a side elevation thereof, partly in section, some of-the elements being shown in their normal. positions for transport; Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective view showing a portion of the resilientplatform, certain elements being omitted; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the mechanism for raising one section of the platform support;

Fig. 5-is a front elevation of one of theplatform supporting standards, the sections thereof being shown in their lower positions; Fig. dis a section taken" on line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is asection taken on line 77 of Fig. 6; and Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are sections taken, in their order, on lines 8-8, 9 9 and 1010 of Fig. 5.

I In the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates a; truckof any suitable construction, preferably a self-propelled vehicle, the motor of which is not shown as the same does not form partof the present invention.

.From' the four corners of this truck rise standards 11, each of which is made of a plurality ofsections, in the present case three sections, denoted in their order by the numerals 12, 13 and 14:.

To the upper ends ofthe sections 14 0f the said standards is secured, in any suitable manner, a platform 15, comprising a central section 16 and two side sections '17. Each ofthese sections consists of a frame 18, having' a resilient bottom, in the form of a bed spring fabric 19 of any suitable construction. The central section of the platform is of a size corresponding to that of the'truclnthe side sections of the plat-. formbeing hinged to the central section along the longitudinal edges of the latter, and are'adapted to be folded onto the said central section. The sections of the platform each support a mattress 20 of a suitable thickness, so as to prevent injury to persons jumping from the windows or balconies of a building onto the said platform.

All around the platform extends a railing 21, comprising two longitudinal portions 22, which are hinged to the free longitudinaledges of the side sections 17, and two longitudinal portions 22 of the railing. Suitable separable fastening means 27 are provided for uniting adjacent sections and 24 of the transverse portions 23 of the railing. When the platform is to be folded,

first thesefastening means are disengaged and the sections 25 of the railing folded'onto the portions 22 thereof. The portions 22 with the sections 25 are then folded onto the sections 117 of the platform. The portions 7 24 of the railingare then folded onto the platform section 16, after which the sections 17 of the platform are folded onto the middlesection. 7

To the railing portions 22 are attached in 7 any suitable manner aprons 28, for instance strong fabrics, which are provided along their longitudinal edges with ropes 29, that p are adapted to be engaged with a building.

The standards 11 comprise each. as above mentioned, three telescoping-sections, the

sections ;12 being fixedly attached to the frame of thetruck and being made each in the'fornr of a tubular member,"having a quadrangular cross-section, Into each sec-' t1on'12 is adapted to telescope asection 13,

that is also tubular and of quadrangular cross-section, fitting snugly the section 1 2. Into each section 13 is adapted to telescope a section 14, that is preferably of U-sha-ped cross-section, fitting snuglythe section 13. The purpose of making thesemembers of quadrangular cross-section is to prevent relative rotation between the elements of a standard. The standard sections 13 on each side of the truck are united bylongitudinally extending tie-bars 30,.which= are attached to. the said standard sections at their upper ends. These tie-bars not only serve to 1 =3 properly space the sections 13 of the stand ard, but also as a means, as will hereinafter I appear, for supporting the actuatin mechanism of the sections 14 of the stan ard.

being one cable 35 associated with each of these sections. This cable is attached at one of its ends to a lug 36, that is secured to the lower end of a section 13 and projects through a longitudinal slot 37 in the respective standard section 12. The cable runs over a sheave 38, mounted upon the respeo tive standard section 12 adjacent its upper end, running thence downward over a sheave 39 to a drum, to which it is secured in any suitable manner. Each drum has attached to it, as appears from Fig. 2 of the drawings, two cables 35. To the shaft 31 is furthermore secured a ratchet wheel 40, in engagement with a spring-pressed pawl 41, the latter being pivoted to one of thehangers lVith this pawl is ada ted to cooperate a bell crank lever 42, that isfulcrume'd at '43 to the saidhanger, stop pins 44 andf45, disposed adj acent to the bell-crank-lever, limiting the movement of. the latter, around its fulcrum. u V V i For lifting thesections 14 of thestanda-rds, a mechanism is provided that is in all respectssimilar to the one adapted to raise the sections 13.

a shaft 46, disposed transversely of the ter being attached to theytie-bars 30. A cable: 48 is associated-with eaclr'sectio1rl4,

One end. of said cablebein secured tea-lug i 49, adjacent thelower end of the respective section 14, and runn ng over a sheave 50 upon the respective tie bar 30, extending thence and being attached to a'drum 51 on the shaft 46. Onthis shaft there are pro;- vided two drums, with each being associated two cables. Upon the shaft is mounted a ratchet wheel .40, codperating with spring- This mechanisn'i comprises truck and journaled in hangers 47, the laa pressed pawl -l-1, with thelallter being associated a bell-crank lever 42 and two stop pins 44 and 45 Y '1 The outermost positions of the sections 13 ofthe standard are determined by springpressedpins 52, one of the same being slidably mounted adjacent the 1 upper end of each section 12 andadapted to be seated by its spring in an aperture 53, which is formed in theJrefspective section 13 of} the 7 standard adjacentilts lower end; In a simi lar manner is mounted :uponeaeh-section 13 of the standard,. adjacentits upper end, a

spring-pressed pin'54, cooperatlng withfan aperture 55, formed in the respective standard section 14, and more partlcularlyadjacent the lower end of: the. samei The pins are each provided with a milledjknob 56, by which they maybe grasped, if it is intended to disengage the same from the apertures in which they are seated. e

The operation of the fire-escape is as follows :In the folded, normal positions of the elements, the frame sections 17 of the platform rest upon-the central section 16,.

and the standards are telescoped. The telescoped pos1tion s of these standards are shown in larger views in Figs. 5 to 7,

inclusive, from which it. appears that the spring-pressed pins 52 and. 54 bear against the respective standard sections 13 and 14,

holding the springs under compressiouj The size ofthe-truck isin no way enlarged. in width by the folded platform thereon, so that it can be drawn through the streets without interfering with the traflic,

When the fire-escape is to be put tense,

it is brought, preferably adjacent the curb,

in parallel relation to the burning building. First the platform isextended, and the ra1 ing thereon put in operative position. It is to be observed that, when in extended positio n, the platform is dlsposed in a horizontal plane, the side-sections 17 being prevented from sinking below the level of the central section 16 by resting against the longitudinal edges of the latter. turned in the proper direction, whereby the cablesv 48 are wound upon. the drums 51 on When the platform has Ibeen raised to the proper height, the ropes 29 on the apron 28 adjacent the burning building are engaged with the said building, and the ropes on the opposite apron are attached to the building opposite the burnin one. In this manner, the size of the plat orm is greatly enlarged, persons jumping on the apron sliding onto the platform. Persons, who jump onto the platform, are saved from injury,

since the platform is cushioned and has a resilient bottom.

In order to telescope the sections of the The shaft 46 is then I standards, first the bell-crank lever 42 on one of the hangers 32 is shifted, to disengage the respectivepawl 41 from the ratchetwheel 40. he sections 13 of the standards are thus teleseoped into the sections 12 by a the weight resting thereon. After this, the

pawl, cooperating with the ratchet+wheel 1 on the shaft 46, is disengaged from the said wheel, whereby the sections 14 of the standards telesco e automatically into the sections 13. he platform is then folded,

whereby the device is ready for transportation. v

Itisobvious that, while herein the standards have been shown as being made each of three sections,-any other suitable number of sections may be provided.

What I claim is A portable fire-escape comprising a truck, i j

a plurality of standards mounted thereon, a platform supported by said standards, said platform including a plurality of sections,- one section being fixed to said standards and the other sections being hinged to saidfixed section so as to be foldable thereonto, a foldable railing around said platform yan a ron secured to the railing portion of each hinged platform section, and ropes upon said apron adapted to secure the latter to fixed supports.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 20th day of February, A; D. 1919,

JOSEPH WEINBERG. 

